Armed with two years' worth of savings and the need to experience life outside the bubble of her Oregon small town, twenty-five-year old Amber Welles is prepared for anything. Except dying in Dublin. Had it not been for the bravery of a stranger, she might have. But he takes off before she has the chance to offer her gratitude.

Twenty-four-year-old River Delaney is rattled. No one was supposed to get hurt. But then that American tourist showed up. He couldn't let her die, but he also couldn’t risk being identified at the scene—so, he ran. Back to his everyday life of running his family’s pub. Only, everyday life is getting more and more complicated, thanks to his brother, Aengus, and his criminal associations. When the American girl tracks River down, he quickly realizes how much he likes her, how wrong she is for him. And how dangerous it is to have her around. Chasing her off would be the smart move.

Maybe it's because he saved her life, or maybe it's because he's completely different from everything she's left behind, but Amber finds herself chasing after River Delaney. Amber isn’t the kind of girl to chase after anyone.

And River isn't the kind of guy she'd want to catch.

about K.A. Tucker || Born in small-town Ontario, K.A. Tucker published her first book at the age of six with the help of her elementary school librarian and a box of crayons. She currently resides in a quaint town outside of Toronto with her husband, two beautiful girls, and an exhausting brood of four-legged creatures.

There were many aspects in this story that scream 5★!! to me....but then I became a bit wary of it because the book at times felt long, and I sometimes forgot important events until I was reminded of them some ways into the book later... So for that, I'm giving it the 4.5 -- but it's a heavy, heavy 4.5 and is on my favorites of 2015 list (one of those few non-5 books).

Similar to a previously reviewed story this week, A PERFECT BARGAIN, we have a story that follows a girl on a trip away from home. A nurse in the States, Amber decides to visit a number of countries in 3 months (original plan? A year). With a bucket list written with help of a friend, she embarks on a journey to find herself.

The story picks up with her in Dublin -- she's already visited a few countries and marked off a few items on her list. She's on her way to a tour bus, running late, when she's plowed down by a man with beautiful green eyes moments before a pipe bomb goes off. With a whisper of he didn't do it, she watches the mystery man limp away.

Suddenly, she's become the 'American girl' who was at the scene of a bomb, and is accidentally thrown in the middle of the investigation -- anonymously, but the fact remains the same.

For some reason, she wants to keep the man who sheilded her safe from investigation, but equally, she wants to know who he is. After seeing a shirt on a tourist that matched the one her savior was wearing, she ends up down at Delaney's and comes face to face with him -- a certain River Delaney.

I really enjoyed Amber's character. I could relate with her on many aspects -- she had a good job, but felt the need to spread her wings and find herself (granted, I'm just planning on moving 'cross-country, not backpacking across lands unknown). After coming face to face with River, she finds excuses to see him again... and again. She knows she's only in Dublin for a few days, but she wants to spend time with him and she's unsure what it is about him that draws her to this Irishman.

And then there was River.

River was a damn good brother -- even to Aengus who didn't deserve it most of the time. River has a strong sense of country and family, and it hurts him that Aengus takes something that was so hard fought for, something that their father and grandfather fought for, and joins the rebels of it all. He stands by his older brother and even has gotten into serious trouble for his brother. But then there was also his younger brother to consider. River wanted nothing more than to watch his brother, Rowen, finish school. He tried extremely hard to allow Rowen nights off at the pub so he could focus on his studies and felt terrible when he needed his youngest brother to cover for him.

Aengus not included, the family unit of Rowen and River was so fun to watch. Just like any younger brother, Rowen was quick to tease River about his 'American bird' and the not so sly looks he kept sliding her way -- and the list he borrowed from her without her knowing.

River helped Amber accomplish things on her list (reminds me of WITHIN THESE WALLS... I love these boys) -- even helped her add things to her list.

All in all, I really enjoyed this story. My biggest problem with it, then, would be the length. Like I said, I actually forgot about the ongoing investigation. It became very much a romance between an American and a Dubliner, with frequent trips to the pub and other fun adventures. When Duffy would show up, I was, "Oh. That's right. The bombing and the IRA and Aengus". But the romance? I loved. I loved the cuteness of it and every other little thing about River and Amber.

Now, this all said... I'm definitely on board with reading the previous books in the series. The few phone calls Amber had with her brother made me want to know more about Jesse, and hello? Mysterious Ivy? I totally want to know more about her -- she's next! SURVIVING ICE is due to release in October.

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a quick note from { mignon } ...

I AM NO LONGER ACTIVE IN REVIEWING

The last two years has been incredibly rewarding, giving me the opportunity to pick up new-to-me authors, as well as new-to-the-world authors. I have enjoyed supporting publishing houses as well as the indie author, and in doing so, I learned a lot about the marketing aspect of writing a book and selling it as a self-published author.

I have re-focused my journey to more writing-minded. I still read and review! But not nearly at the rate I was; three books a day has turned to three books a month.

I will no longer be accepting individual review requests (unless it's specifically author-to-author, then it will be highly considered).

I will definitely be posting reviews for commitments I have already made, though.Thank you for understanding, & thank you to all those I have worked with over the last year plus!

GOODREADS updates

He is the exact public person I despise. You know the type -- all biblical with publicized praying and verses all over his public persona. Great. Good for you. Bet you're not like that behind closed doors...

Which is exactly what Esther thinks of him.

Saint and Esther attend the same super religious college. Esther is on the fast track to becoming a nun, and no I do not kid, and Saint, given name Francis, can do just about whatever he wants, because he is the star athlete and the school knows he has connections. What in the world can these two have in common? The actions of their parents.

But where Saint does what his father says, usually, because his father is pushing him toward a pro-football careers, Esther follows her parents (father) because if she didn't... Her life would literally be a living hell.

I really enjoyed these two, once we started to get to know Saint a little bit better. My only drawback with the book would be the last half goes by in super-fast time. While it helped to keep the story moving, I would have liked to see more of that time drawn out so the feelings and emotions of our two characters felt more genuine and real -- rather than simply a two month courting that their lives demanded.

I'm giving the book the full 5 stars because it came out of left-field for me. It was a book that I didn't expect to like, but the author wove it in a way that I fell hard for our characters both as individuals and as a couple. I liked watching Esther grow and find her voice in life, just as I liked watching playboy, always for the chase Saint, settle down and find a person to be terribly protective over. I loved him most in the last two chapters.

Here's something you may know about me if you've followed my reviews -- I'm an epilogue reader. I will almost always read the epilogue first. Call me a spoilsport or no fun, or whatever but that's how I've been reading books for years. It's no wonder that when I write books, I tend to have the epilogue all figured out before I even start with "Once upon a time...".

That said... I read this epilogue and while I liked it, I just couldn't get past the ages of our characters. Couldn't do it. So I read the beginning. Still... If anything, the age of our characters was even more pronounced. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to read this. You see, I have an issue with "Happily ever after" and the hardly-twenty crowd, let alone an eighteen year old.

But that's my hang-up.

Another thing you may know about me? I will sometimes read a book in what I call a inside-out fashion. I jump all over the place until I find a snippet of story that absolutely grips me. And people -- there are a few of those parts in Everything. So because I found those gripping parts, I put my faith in Erin Noelle, and I started from page one -- and I gave Everett and Belle a chance.

And I'm so glad I did.

Everett and his twin sister have been making music forever -- literally. They're the children of a rockstar; music has always been their life. When their father's group decides to get back together (dad always said he'd go back when the twins were done with school), Mason tells the label -- if you take me, you're taking my kids: thus, giving Everett and Ashlynn the opportunity to take their music to a larger level than they have before.

Along the way, with a local gig, Everett meets Belle -- and so begins their story.

This is a story about growing up. This is a story about following your heart -- be it for a person or a career, or even both. It is about learning to trust the person you are giving your heart to, and about taking the ever-looming jump into unknown feelings. When you put your life, your wants, your desires in someone else's hands, the world opens up -- and it certainly does for Everett and Belle.

The part I most appreciated was that the author made Everett true to his age and situation. Belle was too, yes, but it was Everett and his new lifestyle that had me wanting to see true characterization for. He's a guy; he's a musician; he's new to love. He makes mistakes. And for those mistakes, I truly got on board with this story.

Everett and his Tinker Bell were incredibly cute. I liked that there's a decent time jump at the end, further allowing -- you guessed it -- growth of our characters. I'm excited to watch more of them when (if?) Ashlynn's story comes out.

TOURING with ...

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Unless otherwise stated, all books I review are books I've received for free from the author or publisher. I receive nothing, monetary or otherwise, for expressing my opinion and/or promoting the books. I do, however, participate in the Amazon Affiliate program, and as such I do receive a small commission when these links are clicked. Affiliate links and free books in no way affect my opinion.